Alliance of Fire
by The Grey Panther
Summary: AU. In a world where the Hidden Villages were never founded, the major ninja clans are scattered across the land, coexisting through treaties and alliances. After a mysterious murder threatens the balance between the Uchiha, Senju and Uzumaki, each clan agrees to send one of their own on a quest to find the real killer.
1. Prologue, Part 1: Uzumaki

Inspired by a post on Tumblr. See my profile for the link.

This chapter has been edited since I first posted it. It's longer now.

* * *

_"Long ago, a monstrous ten-tailed beast roamed the land and sea, leaving destruction in its wake. The people assembled their mightiest warriors to defeat it, but they were no match for the behemoth. For many years, village after village fell to its devastating power._

_"But one day, when all seemed lost, a mysterious figure appeared. He was a hermit who had learned the secret to controlling chakra, the life-energy of the world. Wielding it, he rose up against the creature and sealed it away forever._

_"He was known as the Sage of the Six Paths, and is said to have been the very first shinobi._

_"For many years after, the Sage travelled the land, teaching others to harness chakra and..._ Naruto? Are you listening?"

A loud snore was heard in reply.

"Wake up and pay attention, Naruto."

More snoring, now accompanied by some drooling. The old man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration before placing the history book on his desk and quietly getting up. Creeping up to the dozing student with the silence only a trained ninja could achieve, he bent down and whispered in his pupil's ear:

"Naruto...we're all out of ramen."

It had the desired effect. The boy's eyes flew open in shock, and he abruptly shot up, falling out of his seat in the process. The boy glanced around frantically, before focusing on the teacher's smug expression.

"Pervy Sage! That wasn't funny!" he cried indignantly. Jiraiya glared at him.

"Well, neither is the Uzumaki heir not knowing his history! You're going to have to succeed Lady Kushina one day, and we can't have an _idiot_ as the clan head!" he reprimanded.

"I know that!" Naruto retorted. "But this history stuff is so _boring!_ I wanna go outside! _Pleeeease?_" he pleaded.

Jiraiya sighed. "Maybe so, but it's also vital to being a leader. Peace takes a lot of time and effort to achieve, and little to none to destroy. Remember: those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes."

"Yeah, yeah," he groaned, leaning on the table.

Little did he know just how true those words would turn out to be.

* * *

On with the story! Woo-hoo!

Up next is Sakura's debut.

PS: Personally, I think history is fascinating. But Naruto seems like the kind of kid who'd be bored by such things.


	2. Prologue, Part 2: Senju

I've decided to separate the prologue into three parts. This is the second.

* * *

The fish was dead. Dead as a doornail.

And nothing Sakura did was going to change that.

"Tell me again what bringing back a _fish_ has to do my training?" she asked.

The Senju matriarch sighed. She truly adored her grand-niece, but as an apprentice, the girl was quite the handful.

"It has everything to do with it. This is an exercise every medic does for their training," Tsunade advised. "And the fish isn't quite dead. There's still a spark a life left in it. You just need to...rekindle it."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed, thinking this over. "Okay, I'll try." Turning back to the fish, she hovered the palm of her hand over its body and concentrated. Light green chakra pulsed from her fingertips, and with a gentle push, she let it trickle into the fish's chakra coils.

Using chakra always felt strange. It was like she was using an extension of her very being – which, essentially, she was. From what her Auntie had said, she needed to apparently needed to find some sort of "spark" inside the fish, so she decided to start with that – finding it.

After a few moments of searching, Sakura reached the fish's heart, and gasped. She'd found it! The spark was faint, and gradually fading, but it was there. Cautiously, she brushed it with her chakra, and it seemed to flicker briefly.

Tsunade smiled as she watched the girl work with renewed determination. She was getting the hang of it now.

After some minutes, Sakura suddenly pulled away from the fish, which then began flailing. The reanimated creature flopped around wildly, before landing in the koi pond with a splash.

Sakura turned towards her mentor and punched a fist in the air. "I did it! HELL YEAH!"

Tsunade had never felt so proud.

* * *

Up next: Sasuke.


End file.
